Summoned elementals don't stack anymore- 1.2 "feature&q

[gator]

Great, I'm partway through the final campaign, install the 1.2 update and now casting a second "summon elemental" spell replaces the first stack instead of adding to it. Or am I missing something.

[Dark Matter]

Since 1.2 summoned elements replace already summoned ones. When you have 10 and use the spell you still have 10 because they do not stack anymore. the new ones replace the old ones.

btw: Not good: Master gremlins can only repair once in each battle since 1.2

[Meandor]

btw: Not good: Master gremlins can only repair once in each battle since 1.2

...
Academy players, what strategy you`ll use now to have a good start?

[omegaweix]

Oh, they DID stack?
Last time i used this spell more frequently was in the beta.... and i think if i recall right summon-elementals didn't stack then... so i stopped using it!

Well, then a valuable feature was pruned without me even noticing it

[MrSteamTank]

Good thing they fixed the master gremlins. They were hideously overpowered.

I mean compared to raise dead, phantom forces, klaus' special, and cavaliers/paladins it was obvious that master gremlins need a severe hit with the nerf stick.

[wimfrits]

Good thing they fixed the master gremlins. They were hideously overpowered.

I agree. They were like angels with infinite charges of resurrection.

[Ethric]

Can't see what's so overpowered with stacking summoned elementals, that it needed "fixing"

[Paradox]

he was joking, they werent overpowered at all

[Alamar]

Good thing they fixed the master gremlins. They were hideously overpowered.

I mean compared to raise dead, phantom forces, klaus' special, and cavaliers/paladins it was obvious that master gremlins need a severe hit with the nerf stick.

I didn't catch the sarcasm until the 2nd paragraph ... heh I guess I'm slow

I have no real idea how to effectively play Academy now. I had a hard enough time being able to keep up with Sylvan, Haven, Necropolis the first time through ....

Maybe I need a new guide from Sir Charles

[wimfrits]

Didn't see the pun earlier.

But I still think that gremlins were overpowered and that the fix was badly needed. Gremlins + golems could prevail over insane odds and win battles at points were they are not yet meant to be winnable.

I do agree that Academy needs an edge somewhere; but I'd rather see it spread out over multiple units than overpowering 1 unit.

[Alamar]

Didn't see the pun earlier.

But I still think that gremlins were overpowered and that the fix was badly needed. Gremlins + golems could prevail over insane odds and win battles at points were they are not yet meant to be winnable.

I do agree that Academy needs an edge somewhere; but I'd rather see it spread out over multiple units than overpowering 1 unit.

I tend to agree with you that you would win lots of fights you had NO BUSINESS at all winning.

On the other hand this [IMHO] was the only thing keeping them competitive early. Without this edge [assumming no edges were added] they seem seriously underpowered to me.

Of course I haven't played the new patch yet so don't take the above as criticism ... I just find it odd.

[Grumpy Old Wizard]

So the only 2 good spells left for summoning magic is phantom armies and phoenix. Nice "fix."

GOW

[cornellian]

Funny that people at Nival think creating a stack of 5 billion titans is less powerful than summoning 50 elementals.. I agree that Summoning Elementals can be abused, but if that's the case then increase its mana cost to 18, or limit the number of times it can be cast in a day a la Dimension Door style, or in a battle.. Besides Elementals can only be abused when fighting the lackluster AI, not against humans.. So rather than fixing the weak AI, Nival chose the much easier way, nerfing and being done with it.. They even nerfed the vampires without logic: vamps weren't very powerful, and draining from undead isn't entirely without logic; maybe vamps of those parts of the universe don't suck blood like their Earth brethren, but suck life force..

Anyway, I think they should have worked on the AI, nerfed Phantom and Klaus and limited the number of times elementals can be summoned or MG can repair golems to a reasonable level, like 3-4 in a day. It is not too late for better balance and gameplay in Heroes V, though time is dwindling and most people that aren't good fans are probably losing their hope...

[maltz]

> Summoned elementals will replace the original

This is a very weird new feature, as it didn't happen in previous HoMM4 (the only other HoMM I've played.)

I think this new feature is not really justified, though. The power of a summoner is to walk free on earth with only a tiny army... and this only encourages people to abuse summon phenoix and ignore summon elemental.

BTW: I have patch 1.1, and my master gremlins can only repair golems once. Something is wrong with my 1.1 then...?

[Omega_Destroyer]

What a drag. I really liked being able to summon hundreds of air elementals into a fight. It appears to have been knocked down from a good spell to a mediocre spell.

If Nival is going to limit the amount of creatures to be summoned, they should at least raise the intiative of the elementals (not the air elementals, because they are fast enough).

[ThunderTitan]

So now it's a retal stealing spell. How nice.

How do they decide what spells need nerfing? Because it needs changing.

[LordErtz]

by the way I don't think MG were overpowered. All they could do was repair golems (and siege weapons). One large stack of creatures could nuke the entire MG stack in 1 hit, then what?

Face it, we're talking about multiplayer vs single player. In single player the computer doesnt go after the MG sometimes and yeah, you can infinite regen the golems, but multiplayer people aren't so stupid. They didn't need to be nerfed.

I've heard they raised the power of the repair, but if that's the case, it makes even less sense.

[Paradox]

im glad summon elemental doesnt stack anymore. i got my butt whipped from an AI player with about 70 water elements that he kept summoning.

[Ethric]

Riiiight... so anything the AI can beat you with, should be removed from the game?

[Gaidal Cain]

Summon Elementals: Fun thing is that summoning Water Elementals got stronger with this change... But who cares? Once you get Summon Phoenix, you're not going to need the elementals anyway...

As for MGs: I do agree that it needed to be limited, but I'd given them more repairs and a bit more overall repair power- 3 repairs at 2 hp/gremlin or so.